The Very Latest

  • President Obama on the “fiscal cliff” agreement

    By Jim Messina on

    The President reached an agreement with Republicans and Democrats in Congress on the "fiscal cliff" that prevents a tax hike on 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses, while fulfilling the President's promise to ask the wealthiest Americans to begin to pay their fair share to reduce the deficit.

    President Obama recorded a video to update supporters like you on what's in the agreement and what it means for you—watch it and share it with friends and family.

    It's thanks to people like you who spoke up and contacted your members of Congress throughout this debate that we were able to avoid a crippling tax hike.

    As we address our ongoing fiscal challenges, the President will do exactly what he said he would on the campaign trail—working for the middle class and all those fighting to get into it, and building an economy from the middle out, not the top down.

    There will be more soon. For now, thanks for all you do, and happy new year.

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  • President Obama's statement on the tax agreement

    By Mary on

    On Tuesday night, President Obama welcomed the votes in Congress to pass tax cuts for the middle class and avoid the "fiscal cliff."

    A central promise of my campaign for President was to change the tax code that was too skewed towards the wealthy at the expense of working middle-class Americans. Tonight we've done that. Thanks to the votes of Democrats and Republicans in Congress, I will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Americans while preventing a middle-class tax hike that could have sent the economy back into recession and obviously had a severe impact on families all across America. ...

    Under this law, more than 98% of Americans and 97% of small businesses will not see their income taxes go up. Millions of families will continue to receive tax credits to help raise their kids and send them to college. Companies will continue to receive tax credits for the research that they do, the investments they make, and the clean energy jobs that they create. And 2 million Americans who are out of work but out there looking, pounding the pavement every day, are going to continue to receive unemployment benefits as long as they’re actively looking for a job.

    Read the President's statement in full.

  • 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation

    By Mary on

    On December 31, 1862, our Nation marked the end of another year of civil war. At Shiloh and Seven Pines, Harpers Ferry and Antietam, brother had fought against brother. Sister had fought against sister. Blood and bitterness had deepened the divide that separated North from South, eroding the bonds of affection that once united 34 States under a single flag. Slavery still suspended the possibility of an America where life and liberty were the birthright of all, not the province of some.

    Yet, even in those dark days, light persisted. Hope endured. As the weariness of an old year gave way to the promise of a new one, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation--courageously declaring that on January 1, 1863, "all persons held as slaves" in rebellious areas "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." He opened the Union Army and Navy to African Americans, giving new strength to liberty's cause. And with that document, President Lincoln lent new moral force to the war by making it a fight not just to preserve, but also to empower. He sought to reunite our people not only in government, but also in freedom that knew no bounds of color or creed. Every battle became a battle for liberty itself. Every struggle became a struggle for equality.

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